Hello, Bernina fans! My name is Nicole Morgenthau, and I own Finch Knitting + Sewing Studio in Leesburg, Va. Here at Finch, we recently had the opportunity to host a machine embroidery challenge with Alison Glass and Bernina USA. I hope to tell you a little about our fun event, and how we organized it at Finch!

We started by selecting our participants, which was really fun… We thought it important to invite people who are confident sewists coming from a variety of sewing backgrounds. What they all have in common is a body of work that shows a creative approach to their craft, a desire to learn new things, and a general curiosity and sense of humor! Lastly, our participants had little to no experience with machine embroidery.

Photo Credit: Love Knot Photo

Photo Credit: Love Knot Photo

Photo Credit: Love Knot Photo

We asked them to make something that included embroidery designs of their choosing from the Alison Glass Ex Libris design pack by OESD (available thru Finch or your local Bernina dealer). Each participant had one day to complete her project. While the project had to be completed during our day-long event, most people were able to do a little prep work prior to the event.

We started our day with introductions and a brief lesson on machine embroidery.

Photo Credit: Love Knot Photo

We then toured our supply table… Bernina supplied us with a super fun selection of OESD and Brewer tools and supplies for taking our embroidered projects to the next level!

We thought it was a good idea to have one embroidery machine as well as an additional machine for construction per participant. We used the B 790, 770, and 580 for all our embroidery needs. The B 350, 560, and 740 were used for the sewing construction.

We fed our participants throughout the day (the key to a happy bunch of crafters, I think), and the whole event was quite relaxed! Our machines were set up around the shop, so that as our participants sewed, our customers were able to see them work, meet Alison, and even inquire about embroidery machines.

Photo Credit: Love Knot Photo

It was striking to see how different each person’s vision was. Becky chose to paper piece a fairy’s door and embroidered whimsical moth wings and the like to create a play on a pop up book.